Facebook is Stopping the Sharing of News Content in Australia

Facebook claims it will be restricting Australian publishers and users from viewing or sharing news articles on its platform. This move is being made due to a standoff with the Australian government over legislation that would force tech companies to pay news organizations for content.

The proposal from the Australian government could result in other countries following their lead and may change the relationship between tech companies and traditional media organizations.

Facebook’s move is going to result in users not being able to see content from Australian publishers on the platform globally. Domestic and international news content from Australia will be unavaliable during this blackout. Facebook has claimed that news based accounts produce “less than 4% of the content people see in their news feed.” Details were not provided on how the social media giant calculated that figure.

Facebook believes that the Australian government is not understanding the relationship between publishers and the company’s social media platforms. The company made a statement saying that “It has left us facing a stark choice: attempt to comply with a law that ignores the realities of this relationship, or stop allowing news content on our services in Australia.” This statement came from Facebook’s managing director for Australia and New Zealand named William Easton.

Impacts from Facebook’s move was instantly felt and some of Australia’s top media pages went blank. Facebook claims it would create a system which reviews news content that slips through its filters. The company said that losses for the publishers could exceed $300 million U.S. dollars due to the restrictions.

Let me know in the comments if you think Facebook should pay these news organizations or should the Australian government leave them be to continue business as usual.